03 November, 2009

NessaRose's Party Gown

"What's in the punch?"

"Melons and lemons and pears."

"Oh my!"--Ozdust Ballgown

This is the adorable party dress NessaRose wears to the ball with Boq. It's similar in many ways to Galinda's Popular dress, from the general shape of the bodice to the layered look of the skirt. And, you know, the colour. It's a peach strapless dress (she wears a filmy pink Bolero over it) worn over her jeweled shoes and accented with a pink headband.

The dress is made up of three main parts. It has the strapless bodice (which has princess-seams, side-seams, and I have no pictures of the back, but I'm assuming it has back princess-seams as well, and closes with a zipper), a mid-shin length skirt with ruffles similar to the Popular gown and Elphaba's Act 2 dress, and a light-weight pink Bolero she wears over it (the sleeve length seems to vary from just below to just above the elbow).

Bodice: it's a very basic strapless bodice with princess seams. The centre panel (between the seams that go over the bust) has twelve little vertical pintucks (I estimate them to be about a half-inch in width). The fabric looks like it's probably satin, and it's a pale, warm pink. Some versions have a lacy ruffle right across the bust in a slightly darker pink: I think it's just the same fabric as seen in the skirt.

The "shrug" or Bolero varies a little bit from actress to actress. Sometimes it's a little loose, almost looking way too big, and sometimes it's very closefitting and just looks like part of the dress. The fabric also looks kind of sheer, and I think it's probably the same fabric as the lighter strips in the skirt.

The Skirt: looks really complicated, but I think it's very simple, actually. In the same style as both the Popular dress and Elphaba's Act 2 Dress. It's a basic A-line skirt, except that it's hemmed all at weird angles. I'm not sure if it looks strange when the actress is standing because a) it's constructed to look amazing when she's sitting down, which, if anyone has ever worn a prom dress, usually means it doesn't look quite right standing (and vice versa) or b) it's Oz, and everything's kind of off-kilter, thus says Susan Hilferty or c) some combination thereof. It's constructed of chiffon or some similarly sheer, shiny fabric (probably the same as the bubble gown) that have been folded in half and sewn in layers to the skirt.

If you look closely at the reference pictures above, you'll see the layers are three specific colours. There's a very pale pink that almost matches the bodice (and, I believe, is what the shrug is composed of), a yellower, peachy pink, and finally, a much darker salmon pink. It looks like the general order (with some variants within the skirt) is pale, then salmon, then peach.

She wears the jeweled shoes her father gave her. Below are some images scavenged both from this costume and from the other time she wears them (as the Governor). They look like seriously bedazzled character shoes with a little silver accent.

Pattern Recommendations:
Bodice: Simplicity 2953, and then just do the pintucks on top of the lining for the centre piece (if that makes any sense....?)
Shrug: Vogue 8622, view C.
Skirt: any mid-shin length, A-line skirt. You'll have to draft all the layers, anyway... and if you screw up, it's supposed to be off-kilter anyway! =)